1

Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

Interpreting Graphs and Basic Statistics in Biology

After the TA has given you a brief introduction to statistics and graph interpretation, test your skills by
analyzing the following figures. Show us that you understand the meaning of the data presented by
answering the questions associated with each section. Remember, it all starts with reading the figure
legends. Note that this is YOUR opportunity to practice a key scientific skill – interpreting data! Circle
ALL that are correct for each question. (24pts)

Data from Aydelotte & Diggle (1997) American Journal of Botany

1) Flowers first began opening:

a. 0 days after snowmelt
b. 10 days after snowmelt
c. 20 days after snowmelt
d. 48 days after snowmelt

2) The following can not be determined from

this graph:
a. How many plants were censused
b. What percentage flowered late
c. What proportion flowered late
d. What percentage never opened

1
 2
Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

Data from Tremblay et al. (2003) Journal of

Experimental Biology
3) How many birds spent more than 50% of the
time at the colony?
a. None of the birds
b. All of the birds
c. 11 birds
d. 68% of the birds

Fig. 4 Overall time budget of common guillemots

rearing chicks. Pie charts (top) include data from all
birds, whereas bar charts (bottom) illustrate time
allocation for each of the 12 experimental birds.

Data from Tremblay et al. (2003) Journal of Experimental Biology

4) What is the modal dive duration of the birds?

a. 120 seconds
b. Approximately 25 seconds
c. 7%
d. I can’t tell from this figure

5) What total proportion of dives are less than

60 seconds?
______________________

Figure 7B Frequency distribution of

dive duration in common guillemots.
Black line is the cumulative %.
2
 3
Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

Data from Shaffer (2004) Polar Biology

6) What is the correct interpretation of
this figure?
a. The average cost of adult birds for
the incubation period is higher than
for any other phase.
b. That adults spend the lowest
proportion of the breeding cycle in
the brooding period.
c. The energetic costs may be low
during incubation but it represents
the largest proportion of the
breeding cycle.

7) In terms of the relationship between energy and proportion of time in the breeding cycle,
which reproductive phase appears to be more costly for adults (circle the correct answer):
Incubation
Chick-brooding
Chick-rearing

3
 4
Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

Data from Dayanandan et al. (1997) American Journal of Botany

8) What is a figure like this used to illustrate

or communicate?
a. The evolutionary relationships among
species
b. The ecological relationships among
species
c. The names of the species
d. The percent of species in each group

9) Which of the following are probably most

closely related?
a. Medicago and Polygala
b. Acacia and P. longifolium
c. Medicago and P. longifolium
d. P. elegans and Bolizia

4
 5
Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

Data from Costa et al. (1998) Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

10) What can be stated about body mass and
blood volume?
a. Smaller sea lions have more blood
b. Body mass changes at a faster rate than
blood volume
c. The relationship is too variable to tell
d. Larger sea lions have more blood

11) Using the equation of the line, calculate the

blood volume of a 120 kg sea lion.
Answer: _________ Liters.

Data from N. González-Muñoz et al., 2013

12) During what month and year does the

greatest amount of leaf litter occur for
native species? For exotic species?
_______________________
_______________________

13) What kind of graphs are these?

14) Give a hypothesis for why measuring leaf litter may be

useful (2pts)

5
 6
Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

Data from Dunkin et al., 2013

15) When the body is wet, which species of elephant seems to allow its skin temperature to rise more
quickly with ambient (air) temperature?

16) Do the ears of Asian or African elephants heat up faster in response to rising air temperature?

17) At what air temperature do Asian elephants seem to begin to shut down (vasoconstrict) their ears
when dry (hint – consider the changes in the slope of the line)?
a. 16
b. 18

c. 24
d. 32

6
 7
Bioe 20B
NAME:_______________________________________________TA:___________________________

You decide to survey a bunch of mallard duck nests around a pond to determine the most common
number of eggs per nest. Using the following data, make a frequency plot (Hint: this should be a bar
graph). Be sure to label your axes.

Number of eggs Number of

per Nest Nests
0 2
1 4
2 3
3 6
4 7
5 11
6 8
7 5
8 4
9 1

18) How many nests did you survey? ______________

19) Now that you have surveyed all of the nests around the pond, what was the most common
number of eggs per nest? _____________

20. Pick one of the graphs on this worksheet and ask a testable question about the data. This does not
have to be a brilliant, science-altering question! I want you to practice thinking up your own scientific
questions (1pt).